Forced to sit out six games last year because of the transfer rule, Dakota Mornhinweg spent most of his practice time on Carmel High football’s scout team.

Asked to play the opponent’s best offensive threat, Mornhinweg, who arrived as a receiver, flashed his talents running the ball for the Padres.

“We noticed his versatility when he had the ball in his hands,” Carmel coach Golden Anderson said. “Putting him at tailback enabled us to put players back at their natural positions.”

Mornhinweg has also become a bit of a lucky charm as the Padres will go into Friday’s game against North Salinas 11-0 since he became eligible.

“We give him a hard time about that,” Anderson said.

Rediscovering the ground game starts with Mornhinweg, who has piled up 758 yards in seven games this fall for the Padres, producing 10 touchdowns.

The junior has also caught 17 passes out of the backfield for 270 yards, sharing the team lead in touchdown receptions with five.

“He’s a playmaker,” North Salinas coach Ben Ceralde said. “But Carmel has a lot of them. We’ll try and find a weakness and keep going at it. At this point, I don’t really see one.”

In part, because there are few weaknesses in Carmel’s offensive arsenal, which is averaging 45 points a game, a number that climbs to 50.1 if you take out a 14-0 win over Monte Vista.

“I don’t want to get into a shootout with them,” Ceralde said.

In fact, the Vikings are hoping to take a page from what Monte Vista did in slowing down the Padres’ attack with a ground control offense.

“When you have size up front, it causes a lot of problems in football,” Anderson said. “North Salinas has a lot of those traits. It’s big up front. It runs the ball. It will be one of the bigger teams we face this season.”

Coming off an emotional 28-27 win over Soledad in which North Salinas recovered from a 20-point deficit, the Vikings had an extra week to gear up for the undefeated Padres.

“What impresses me about North Salinas is it has good foot speed on offense and it tackles well on defense,” Anderson said. “It’ll be fresh from its bye and probably do multiple things we haven’t seen before.”

While Carmel is chasing perfection in the regular season, the Vikings (4-3) are in a position where they still control their postseason fate.

And while Ceralde is not calling it a playoff-type game, the realization is the playoffs have started a few weeks early for North Salinas.

“It’s a big game for us,” Ceralde said. “We have reminded the kids that the reality is we still have a shot at this. It’s a great test. It’s a good team. We have to rise up to the challenge.”

It won’t hurt that the Vikings will have Matt Morales back at tailback after he missed the past two games with an injury.

North Salinas High School’s Matt Morales (4) runs for yards in the first half during a game against Monterey High School Sept. 14. (Vern Fisher – Monterey Herald)

Morales had rushed for over 100 yards in four straight games before being sidelined. Joe Zazueta has filled in, giving Ceralde a pair of options in the backfield.

“Joe filled in well,” Ceralde said. “Both will get their share of carries. But we have to even it out and throw the ball a little as well. We have to find our niche and see what works.”

Three weeks ago Elijah Robinson completed 12-of-16 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings in a double-overtime loss to Watsonville.

Everything has worked offensively for the Padres, starting with quarterback Kai Lee, who has spread the ball around the field, throwing for nearly 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Luke Melcher has a team-leading 23 catches while Mornhinweg, Rashaan Ward and Benicio Cristofalo all have five touchdown catches.

“We try and take what the defense gives us,” Anderson said. “We don’t have special plays for special people. If it’s a run, we hope we block well. We have an unselfish view of our offense.”

Somewhat overlooked all season has been the Padres defense, which has shut out three teams and has yet to allow a point in the third quarter all season.

Robert Brown has been a menace in the trenches with 10 sacks while Lavar Edwards has intercepted four passes this year.

“You know what I’m happy about is our health issue,” Anderson said. “That was a concern coming into the season with our depth. How would we hold up? I’m pleased where we are physically.”

Mentally, he’s still challenging his squad in all facets of the game. Penalties and mental mistakes have kept this offense from perhaps putting up record-setting numbers.

“We’re pretty good at lining up,” Anderson said. “But we have lapses in focus. Sometimes it is bad coaching. Other times it’s penalties. We make mistakes. But they’re correctable.”

Ceralde said the focus this week is knowing where to line up and what to expect against a program that has multiple weapons.

“You can’t just watch one, because two more are coming,” Ceralde said. “It’s not just one player. It’s more or less a personnel thing at this point. It’s becoming more of a mental challenge.”

No doubt, North Salinas is battle tested this year, having been involved in five games decided by a touchdown or less. It also has the distinction of knocking off a team that had been previously undefeated in Monterey

“If we can control the clock, we’ll have an advantage,” Ceralde said. “Hopefully our defense is ready for a breakout game. We’ve challenged them this week.”